CITY OF
FARMERSVILLE Farmersville City Council
PORATES NO Special Meeting
Tina Hernandez, Mayor Monday December 30, 2024, 6:00 PM Araceli Ochoa, Mayor Pro Tem Meeting held in Civic Center Council Chambers Gregorio Gomez, Council Member - 909 W. Visalia Road. Farmersville, California Paul Boyer, Council Member
Armando Hinojosa, Council Member
Pending no technical difficulties, the City Council meeting will also be streamed (for observation only) via Zoom and accessed as follows:
Please dial 1-669-900-6833
Meeting ID: 879-2276-2060
Password: 829800
Call to Order:
2. Roll Call:
Invocation: (Reserved)
4. Pledge-of Allegiance: (Reserved)
5. Public Comment: (Reserved)
Provides an opportunity for members of the public to address the City Council on items of interest to the ublic within the Council's jurisdiction and which are not already on the agenda this evening. It is the olicy of the Council not to answer questions impromptu. Concerns or complaints will be referred to the City Manager's office. Speakers should limit their comments to not more than two (2) minutes. No more than twenty (20) total minutes will be allowed for Public Comment. For items which are on the agenda this evening, members of the public will be provided an opportunity to address the council as each item is brought up for discussion. Comments are to be addressed to the Council as a body and not to any individual Council Member.
Presentations: (Reserved)
Consent Agenda: (Reserved)
Under a CONSENT AGENDA category, a recommended course of action for each item is made. Any Council Member or Member of the Public may remove any item from the CONSENT AGENDA in order to discuss and/or change the recommended course of action, and the Council can approve the remainder of the CONSENT AGENDA.
A. Authorization to waive full reading of ordinances and resolutions and to identify by title only.
Recommend that the City Council approve the full reading of all ordinances and resolutions be waived and to identify by title only.
8. General Business:
B. Resolution of the City Council of the City of Farmersville Document: Resolution 2024-061
9. Adjournment to Closed Session:
10. Reconvene to Open Session:
NOTICE TO PUBLIC
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Materials related to an item on this agenda submitted to the Council after distribution of the agenda packet are available for public inspection in the Cit-y's offices during normal business hours.
Resolution of the City Council 2024-061
Special Meeting
December 30, 2024
WHEREAS, the City of Farmersville has worked with Michael Schulte as City Attorney since at least 2019, as a contract attorney with the Law Office of Michael Farley, who had been the designated City Attorney since at least [date]; and
WHEREAS, in October of 2023, Michael Schulte announced that he was going to be "fading away" from Farmersville in order to pursue litigation; and
WHEREAS, in February of 2024, the City Council and the Office of Michael Farley decided to part ways; and
WHEREAS, Michael Schulte agreed to become City Attorney, at a reduced rate, in order to see the City through the transition; and
WHEREAS, in April of 2024, the City Council decided not to renew the contract of the acting City Manager; and
WHEREAS, Michael Schulte was tasked with helping to restructure various departments within the City, and assist in recruiting a new City Manager; and
WHEREAS, in approximately July of 2024, Michael Schulte was asked by the City Council to step into the role of interim City Manager, while also continuing as the City Attorney, to which Michael Schulte agreed, and the Council voted unanimously to retain him as such, conditioned upon his reduced rate for legal. work, and that his "salary" for City Manager would not exceed the prior City Manager; and WHEREAS, when Michael Schulte agreed to step into this role, he offered his opinion that, for too long, the pre-existing City leadership had ignored the pleas of the Community, Council, and staff to implement changes, and that his role, as City Manager, would be to ensure a better quality of living for the citizens of Farmersville; and
WHEREAS, Michael Schulte later agreed to be City Manager full-time, and in mid-August of 2024, the City Council voted unanimously to hire Michael Schulte as the City Manager, with a contract to follow, after discussions and input with City Staff. Further agreed was that Michael Schulte would then continue as the interim City Attorney, and assist the City with finding a new full-time City Attorney; and WHEREAS, Micheal Schulte did learn that his wife was diagnosed with cancer, and then notified the Council that he would need substantial time away at some point to deal with the diagnosis and treatment, and the Council did consider and did still agree to retain Michael Schulte in the agreed upon positions; and
WHEREAS, in the short four-month time period since Michael Schulte became City Manager - including the month of working from home in order to care for his wife - Michael Schulte has worked closely and diligently - to the satisfaction of City Council - to coordinate the present and future needs of the community, the staff, the contractors, the businesses, and the City Council, including:
• Conduct regular staff meetings, and coordinate issue for Council consideration; • Pursuing neighborhood revitalization funds in order to provide grants to assist homeowners with deferred maintenance. issues;
• Pursuing downpayment assistance funds in order to assist local residents with purchasing homes; (
• Pursuing and directing downtown revitalization plans; • Meeting with community members and offering City assistance and guidance regarding parks, events, and general participation;
• Directing immediate attention to the public works department, including direction to staff to prioritize parks and recreation opportunities for the Community; • Coordinating direct involvement by the City in sports leagues, special events, and other needs of the Community - such as food and toy drives;
• Coordinating and fostering a better relationship with the School District; • Improving decision making at a City level, and expanding the roles of City employees to empower them to act towards bettering their community;
• meeting with contractors and developers to create housing opportunities that meet the City's goals, and housing opportunities for outside entities, such as the National Park Service; • pursuing grants and revenue opportunities to help the City be self-sustaining; • creating and coordinating higher education pathways for students; • Creating and implementing policies for better transparency and checks/balances for tracking finances, and communicating that information more clearly to the Community and Council; • Implementing a recruitment and retention program for employees in order to stem the financial losses associated with losing skilled trained employees; • Fostering tourism expansion and being business friendly; • Directing immediate attention by staff to existing and future infrastructure needs, such as regular road maintenance;
• Expanding the City's sphere of influence;
• Saving the City approximately $40,000/month by holding down both the City Manager and the City Attorney positions;
• Saving the City approximately $15,000/month by rejecting the over-use of euthanasia by the City of Visalia Animal Control;
• Coordinating and working towards better transit services that directly benefit the Community; • Creating outreach for students to be directly involved in City and City Council; • Continuing with all City Attorney duties, including litigation, regulatory compliance, contract review and drafting, and advising Council;
• Meeting with churches, community members, and service organizations to ask, generally, "how can the City do a better job of helping you?"
• Creating an out of county Seasonal Fire Wildland Division • Identified insufficient APRA funding for the completion of the Fire Station, ensuring it is fully operational and move-in ready upon completion.
• Reviewed and learned of inaccuracies in the differential costs to current homeowners and potential new construction WWTF connection fees ($11k vs. $800). • Boosting the morale of staff, employees, and stakeholders • Establishing a rapport with developers for current new construction and future housing projects. • Causing residents and individuals from surrounding cities to contact Mayor to discuss the new changes, the positive impact, and the inquiries on how they can support and contribute towards the future Success that is now underway.
• Homeless Outreach
• In person, on site connections with community members to engage in the review and revision of fee amounts for park use and reservations, thus providing a more sustainable rental cost option to community members.
• ADDRESSING ALL INDIVIDUALS AND ISSUES AS THOUGH THEY ARE OF EXTREME IMPORTANCE. • LEADING WITH AN APPROACHABLE PRESENCE, resulting in a positive working environment, which reflects on how our community residents and City employees interact with each other.
WHEREAS, notwithstanding the accomplishments over the past four months, at a recently agendized Council meeting conducted on December 23, 2025, Councilmember Gomez read a prepared letter to the Council, inferring possible issues with the conflict of interest between Michael Schulte holding the role of City Manager and Interim City Attorney, and also implying that the compensation to Michael Schulte was problematic; and
WHEREAS, in order to provide clarity and transparency, Michael Schulte confirmed for the Council that he has already retained outside third-party attorneys to review all actions of the City for the past year, and that his compensation is actually less than that of the prior City Manager, and that he has not yet billed anything for the legal work of the last four months, saving the City approximately $40,000 per month; and
WHEREAS, it has become apparent to the Council that Councilmember Gomez was misinformed on several of his points.
NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Farmersville, by this resolution, make the following findings, and direct staff as follows:
At a noticed meeting of the City Council on [date], the Council voted unanimously to hire Michael Schulte as City Manager, with the following understandings regarding moving forward: (1) the contract for the interim City Manager position would, in the interim, define the expectations of the parties until such time as staff could prepare a contract specifically for the position of City Manager; and (2) when the Council considered the new contract, the amount of pay would be determined and set by Council; and (3) Michael Schulte would suggest a process and/or candidates for new City Attorney; and (4) Michael Schulte might need to step away for a month or longer in order to care for his wife.
It is the determination of this City Council that Michael Schulte's priorities regarding the City are not in question, and are recognized as achievements of which the Council has been aware, and has directed and participated.
Accordingly, the City Council does not share the same concerns as expressed by Councilmember Gomez.
However, notwithstanding the accomplishments and achievements in this short time period, the Council directs the following:
• It shall be clear that Michael Schulte's obligations to the City, and vice versa, shall be as set forth in the existing interim contract between the City and Schulte; and • The staff and City Manager shall present an updated contract to the City Council for consideration in the next 30 days; and
• The City Manager shall conclude and present the findings of outside counsel to the City Council regarding the actions taken by the City over the past year in order to confirm that no further action ratifying or clarifying prior City actions need to be taken.
Further, and to be clear, the City Council of the City of Farmersville voted unanimously to hire Michael Schulte as City Manager. He has far exceeded the expectations of the Council, and it is anticipated that his role shall continue with the same priorities, and with the support of the full Council behind him.
THE FOREGOING RESOLUTION WAS ADOPTED upon motion of Councilmember Seconded by Councilmember at a special meeting on this day 30"h of December 2024, and approved by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
Tina Hernandez, Mayor
Attest:
Rochelle Giovani, City Clerk